


Baby Baby

by mysticmajestic



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Humor, Light Angst, Team as Family, Toddler Shiro, do not copy to another site
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-09-21 03:48:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17036051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mysticmajestic/pseuds/mysticmajestic
Summary: After a run-in with the Galra, Team Voltron finds out the hard way that they've developed de-ageing technology after a lucky shot in battle turns Shiro into a toddler.As Lance steps in to take care of Shiro, he learns a few new things about his childhood hero, and about himself.





	Baby Baby

**Author's Note:**

> After a two month hiatus from writing, I'm back! My mental health is good, my creative energy is back. This hiatus was something that I sorely needed.

“This is a problem,” said Pidge.

Biting back a scoff, Lance came up to the cryo-pod and stood between her and Hunk, staring down at Shiro. He was clad in the smallest cryo-suit that Coran could find, his armour now ten times the size of him. Keith was doing his very best to ghost Coran, standing behind Coran as he worked the scanners, which was stupid considering Keith couldn’t even read Altean anyway.

“By my calculations,” said Coran, unbelievably calm about Keith’s persistent hovering. “Shiro is about two of your Earth years old. The Galra have somehow managed to create de-aging technology. Quite remarkable, I must say—”

“Remarkable?” Keith spat. “Shiro is _two years old_ , and we have _no idea_ how to reverse it! We’re currently down a paladin of Voltron. This is _not_ incredible.”

Coran’s moustache bristled. “Young man, I never meant it like—”

“Keith, lay off him,” Lance snapped, ignoring the way Keith bristled and clenched his hands into fists. “We all know the issue with the situation. Coran didn’t mean to make it sound like this was a good thing. I get you’re upset, but yelling at people isn’t going to solve this.”

“And what _would_ solve it, huh? Do _you_ have any ideas?”

“Of course I don’t, but—”

“Then shut your pie hole!”

“Hey!” Hunk whirled around as Lance reared back as if slapped. “That’s enough, Keith. That was totally uncalled for, man. Don’t take your anger out on other people like that.” He turned to Coran as Keith scowled and turned away, chastised. “Coran, can those scanners pick up on anything? Anything at all we can use to reverse the damage?”

Electronic keys beeped as Coran frantically typed something, tongue working between his lips as he concentrated. “As far as I can tell, the radioactivity in Shiro’s vitals is not harmful to his DNA, and is meant to degrade naturally over a period of time. With a lack of anything else to go on, I presume that this will not be permanent and he’ll return to his previous state in a matter of quintents.” He typed something else. “Ah. Between five and seven quintents, I believe.”

“Are you saying we’re meant to just sit back and wait for this to blow over?” Pidge’s brows furrowed. “Coran, that’s a dangerous amount of time to be down a paladin.”

“I know. I’m afraid any meddling might compromise the ageing process. With no data on the technology the Galra used, it’s simply too dangerous.”

“Why would the Galra even want to have a de-ageing weapon in the first place?” asked Lance.

Pidge pushed her glasses up her nose, looking a little uncomfortable. “Think about it, Lance. The Galra have powerful enemies that wish to rise up and destroy the Empire. If they’re too strong to defeat in regular combat, wouldn’t turning them into a child do the trick? Children of many species we’ve come across are wholly dependent on their parents. Killing them is no hard task. By turning Shiro into a child, the Galra would have—”

“That’s enough, Pidge,” snapped Keith. “We get it. We get what the Galra were going to do.”

“Sorry,” Pidge mumbled.

“I don’t accept the fact that we just sit here and do nothing,” Keith continued, without so much as acknowledging the apology. “We’ve got no real way of protecting Shiro as he is.” He waved a hand at the cryo-pod. “He’s too vulnerable.”

The door whooshed open and Allura stepped inside. She said, “That is why I have pulled Voltron back from the frontlines. I have talked to the Blade of Marmora, and other of our allies, and they all agree. Without Shiro, Voltron is disabled. The Castle is now floating in deep space and will remain there until Shiro is returned to his adult form.” She peered around at them all, as if daring them to voice a complaint. No one did. She turned to Coran. “Are any of the nurseries functional?”

“No, Princess,” he said. “I’ve not had any need to patch them up, since there had been no children aboard.”

“How long will it take for you to get one running?”

“With the state they’re in?” He pursed his lips in thought, stroking his moustache. “Roughly the same amount of time it would take for Shiro to become an adult again. It’s not even worth the effort.”

Allura did not look happy at that but inclined her head anyway in acceptance. “Alright, then. Shiro will have to room with someone when he wakes. I am sure we can find a suitable bed for a child.”

“He’ll room with me,” Keith interjected. “I can protect him.”

Lance wanted to ask if Keith even knew how to take care of a toddler but refrained. Tensions were running high and he had no desire to worsen the mood. When the time came for Keith to step up and try to care for Shiro, Lance and Hunk would be around to offer a hand. Besides perhaps Coran, they were the only two with experience in dealing with children.

“Nevertheless,” said Coran, “it will take a few vargas for Shiro to be released from the pod. It won’t do to have us all standing around wasting time waiting for him.”

Allura turned to Keith. “Keith, help me bring one of the beds from the nursery to your room. You will need to clean it up, however. I hate to see how much dust has collected on them in ten thousand years.” She spun on her heels and marched away, and after half a second Keith darted after her.

“I’m gonna go hit the showers,” said Lance to Hunk and Pidge. “What are you guys gonna do?”

“I want to find out more about the radiation,” said Pidge immediately. “If I can find out anything about that beam, I’ll hopefully be able to find out counter-measures in case they use it again. The more knowledge we have, the better off we’ll be.”

“Yeah, that’ll be helpful,” said Hunk. “I do not fancy being turned into a child. The Galra are scary enough when we have the capacity to fight back. Pidge, do you mind if I help you?”

“Not at all, your skills at engineering will help me build any necessary tech.”

Lance smiled at them. “Well, if you need my help for anything, you know where I am.” He knew he wouldn’t be that helpful to them; he wasn’t nearly as smart as they were, but they always found something for him to do. “I’ll see you guys later.”

Pidge waved to him as he retreated. “See you. We’ll probably be in the Yellow or Green Lion’s hangar if you want us. After we get all the information we can from Coran, that is.”

“Enjoy your shower, buddy,” Hunk added.

 

* * *

 

Standing under the shower spray, Lance couldn’t help but think of that fight even as he tried to let his mind wander elsewhere. It had been terrifying when that purple beam struck the Black Lion. It had been a lucky shot as they retreated back to the Castle, having got all the information they could from the Galra systems. That final scream of Shiro’s, the way the Black Lion went dark…Lance had thought for sure that Shiro was dead.

Pidge and Hunk had been nearest to Shiro, grabbing the Lion and carrying him back to the Castle. Just as the rest of the team ran into Yellow’s hangar, Hunk had come out of the Black Lion carrying a small bundle in his arms.

“We’ve got a problem, you guys,” Hunk had said, and tilted the bundle so that they could see. And there, lying asleep but with a pained expression on his chubby little face, was Shiro. If the Galra had managed to get to Shiro before Voltron did…

That was the second most terrifying moment.

 _Stop thinking about it._ Lance slapped his cheeks twice, trying to knock the thoughts from his head. _Shiro is alive, and he’s going to be fine. The Galra didn’t get to him; we did. There’s no use in fretting about it now._

The shower wasn’t working to clear his head. He turned off the water and stepped out, the water gurgling down the drain at once until the floor was as dry as it had been when he’d stepped in, and he grabbed a towel to dry himself off before he got changed into his pyjamas. It was near enough to night on the Castle to warrant it anyway. Not like they were gonna go on missions with the team like this.

As he left the bathroom, he thought briefly about going to find Pidge and Hunk again, but quickly nixed the idea. He wasn’t in the mood to be around people right now. Getting some sleep would be more beneficial to him, just enough to tide him over until Shiro woke up.

When he laid down in bed, his body relaxed in a way that it didn’t in the shower. He hugged his pillow to him, closing his eyes.

 _Everything is fine,_ he reminded himself. _It is okay to sleep. Everything is fine_.

Sleep was quick to claim him.

Thunderous knocking on his door awoke him what felt like only minutes later. Grumbling to himself, he swung his legs off the bed and stood, stumbling over to the door to answer it.

“What?” he snapped as it swung open.

Pidge arched a brow. “Wake up on the wrong side of the bed, did you?”

He snorted. “Yeah, I wish that was the reason I’m grumpy. What’s up? Why’re you trying to break my door down?”

She looked confused for a moment, as if she had forgotten her own reason. And then realisation down on her. “Oh! That’s right. I came here to tell you Shiro’s about to wake up. Everyone’s gathered in the medbay. I came to get you because I knew you wouldn’t want to miss it.”

“It’s been five hours already? What the cheese…” He yawned, scratching the back of his neck. “Lead on, Pidgey.”

She shoved him lightly in the side. “Call me that again and I’ll garrotte you.”

It was an empty threat, and they both knew it.

“Yeah, yeah, of course you will.”

They headed down to the medbay. Lance couldn’t help the shiver of excitement, though he’d never admit it to anyone. Seeing his hero as a child held a certain appeal. What kind of kid had Shiro been? Probably a model one. Never toed the line, always did as he was told. Unlike Lance, who’d basically been a wild child, as unstoppable as the tide itself. That wasn’t to say he’d disobeyed his parents and got into trouble, but Lance had been a free spirit who’d never dealt well with rules no matter how hard he’d tried.

Allura and Keith stood guard at the pods, looking as if they were prepared to take anyone down who showed even the slightest hint of aggression—which was ironic, considering the two of them exuded it. Hunk stood near Coran, looking eager to witness what was about to happen, but wasn’t too keen on getting close to Allura and Keith. Not that Lance could blame him.

“How long, Coran?” Keith demanded. He had his arms tightly wrapped around his chest, scowl firmly in place. Would his face break if he tried to form any other expression? Lance wondered.

“Few more ticks,” said Coran. “The pod is just finalising the last of the stasis. It would be unwise to wake him up now,” he added, levelling a sharp glare at Keith as he tried to tap on the pod to release Shiro early. “There can be harmful effects of ending cryostasis too soon, even by as much as a few ticks. Do not touch the pod.”

Sullenly, Keith lowered his hand. “Fine.”

It was at that moment that the pod whooshed open anyway, causing an unconscious, tiny Shiro to fall out of it like a sack of potatoes. Allura went to grab him, but Keith was faster, and whipped Shiro up into his arms.

“Why is he still asleep?” Hunk asked worriedly. “Did something go wrong anyway?”

“Not at all,” said Allura. “It is a common occurrence that small children remain unconscious for some time, no matter what their species may be. He just needs a little more time to adjust, that is all.”

“The Princess is right. A good night sleep will do him well.”

Keith settled Shiro awkwardly on his hip, as if he’d never held a child before. “Then I’ll take him back to my room, if there’s nothing else that needs to be done.”

“Not at all, Number Four,” said Coran jovially. “You’re good to leave.”

As Keith stormed out of the medbay, Lance muttered, “Well that was anti-climactic. Might as well go back to bed.”

Pidge nodded. “I’m going back to my work. Hunk?”

“Coming.”

They went their separate ways again. Back in his room, Lance sunk gratefully into the mattress once more. It seemed like Lance had only just fallen asleep once again when the pounding of the door awoke him once more. What the hell did a guy have to do to get a good night sleep around here?

“What?” he snapped, as the door flew open.

The first thing Lance noticed was Keith’s panicked expression. The next was that he held a red-faced, wailing Shiro in his arms.

“You have to help me!” Keith practically yelled, thrusting Shiro into Lance’s arms. Only quick reflexes prevented Lance from dropping him. “I haven’t gotten him to stop crying since he woke up!”

Oh, quiznak.

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked this first chapter, please leave a comment letting me know! And you can find me on Tumblr as @mystic-majestic, since I highly doubt the website is gonna go defunct this time. Hopefully.


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